The Core Values of Islam - Dr. Bilal Philips

me all praise is due to allah may allah's peace and blessings be on the last prophet muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and then all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day the topic which was chosen for this evening's meeting presentation and gathering is the core values of islam and the reason why this topic was chosen was because oftentimes muslims miss out on the core key goals which islam has for its members those who have accepted it here brother there's a seat here right here by that i mean to say that oftentimes people tend to get caught up in the external traditional customary practices which are part of islam no doubt however they are not in and of themselves the goals of islam we need to understand where the goals actually lie so that we are not focused on the wrong aspects of islam of course as we said the basic pillars of islam whether it is prayer salah fasting these represent the core principles which every muslim is supposed to do but they are not in and of themselves goals they are a means to take us to a particular goal because i'm sure you all understand that allah doesn't need our worship these are all acts of worship but allah did not prescribe these acts of worship out of a need normally when we set principles and requirements obligations they're out of needs that we have but allah most great and glorious is beyond all need so these principles or rituals customs traditions these are ways and means of getting us to the actual goal that we should really be seeking allah said um i didn't create the jinn and humankind except to worship me so we know that worship is something required of us as human beings however if no one on the face of the earth worshipped allah it would not affect him in any way and if everyone on the face of the earth worshipped him it would not benefit him in any way so all of this is there for us what prophet muhammad sallallahu salaam summarized all of the various requirements of islam in one word morality he said in namab i was only sent to perfect for you the highest of moral character traits it is about morality we as muslims don't have technology to offer the world today there was a time in the past when we were the leaders of technology people came to our centers of learning and learned from us from europe and other parts of the world they came and learned and we took from others we were a means of bringing knowledge and skill from china from india from africa from europe bringing it together and repackaging it advancing it and being the light at the time when europe for example considered itself to be in the dark ages in those dark ages those were ages of light in the muslim world we never experience the dark ages but the point is that as i said what we have to offer the world is not technology i i don't have to convince you on that because we are going to america we're going to england and other places to study their technology what they have to offer what they're giving back to us that they got from us so the greatness of islam doesn't lie here the greatness of islam lies where the prophet salallahu put it in morality that islam brought from the very beginning morality to humankind the principles and guidelines for morality for humankind we are all given a consciousness of right and wrong allah said that every soul has a consciousness of corruption and righteousness we were created with that but allah also gave us through the messengers who were sent guidelines which defined how these feelings or emotions or understandings that we have with regards to right and wrong how it should be placed we have the core uh internal experience built into every cell in our bodies but when it is to be implemented in our relationships with each other with the world we live in in our relationship with god with allah without the guidelines then it's easy to stumble so allah chose messengers from amongst us who would be given those guidelines and they would teach them in what we know as islam so what it's saying is that the goal of these various pillars the five pillars of islam are fundamentally moral goals it is to create a morally sound human being who would live a life which is pleasing to allah in everything that he or she does that morally sound human being in his relationship with god for example knows that it is morally correct to worship god alone and it's morally incorrect to worship others along with god or to put anyone between themselves and god they understand this is the morality with regards to our relationship with allah with regards to our fellow human beings how we interact with them we know that stealing is wrong it is bad giving in charity is good these are the moral principles governing how we interact with each other and also even with the environment around us the world in which we live islam established the principles of you know protection of animals prophet muhammed said that we should never make birds our targets animals should not be the targets for human beings to enjoy killing other animals just for fun forbidden in islam 1400 years ago recently the world has finally caught up and said yeah we shouldn't kill after they've wiped out different species and but from 1 400 years ago it was stated by the prophet and of course this would have been in the teachings of the earlier prophets too it's not to say invented this it's not his invention this is the law of allah we have been put over these creatures who may be bigger than us stronger than us faster than us allah has given us an ability to control them that elephant who if he stepped on us we're as flat as a pancake finish that's it in spite of that we can get that elephant to stand on two feet dance around do all kinds of things it's amazing this creature which is so so much stronger than us you know if he was able to just think for a minute you know what is this guy telling me to step on him you know care about my business i mean but allah didn't give them that he gave it to us that we are able to do that so allah submitted these creatures to us for our benefit and we have a duty to to use them in a way which is pleasing to allah not to kill them for sport not to abuse them not to harm them you know even prophet muhammed told us we should not even hit a dog in its face we shouldn't hit anybody in their face any human being but even a dog an animal a donkey you know people like to hit in the face but the prophet forbade us even to hit an animal in its face so these moral principles were in place 1400 years ago and that is what is at the core of islamic teachings that these practices rituals and rights which we have been given they are to develop in us certain moral characteristics which would make each and every one of us a better human being this is the purpose islam creates the best human beings morally with a standard of morality which doesn't change so that what was bad yesterday doesn't become good today no what was good yesterday become bad today it is a standard and islam what is unique about islam is that it defends that standard it is a fixed standard some people say but times change and many other religions they move along with the times they change with modern technology and inventions modern thinking we don't have a problem with the modern inventions we use microphones no problem we use air conditioners in our masters no problem so no problem with the technology utilizing it to the benefit where it helps us to implement religious principles no harm but the problem comes when we are changing with the times now intellectually uh morally this is where the problem comes where in the past for example homosexuality in the west was an evil a disease psychiatrists choose to treat people who were homosexuals to try to correct them they were considered sick but from the 70s from the 70s mid late 70s that was turned upside down homosexuality was removed from the psychiatrist's bible no longer considered to be an illness and it was replaced by another illness this was called homophobia so the homophobes those people who despise homosexuality who consider it to be nasty wrong evil they are the people now who are considered by psychiatrists to be sick they are the ones who need to go to the psychiatrist and have their heads turned around so that they can accept and recognize and appreciate homosexuals what we said that kind of change we don't eat because that kind of change is going against the nature of human beings when allah made homosexuality evil punishable in the old testament by death when allah made that commandment it was based on his knowledge of human beings who weak he created he knew that people were not born homosexuals like homosexuals like to say today homosexuals lesbians transvestites and they have a lbgt thing now it's not just homosexuals you have to accept the whole range you know he knows that people weren't created that way because it would not make sense that if allah actually made a person created a person a homosexual and then declares that person to be evil and to be executed for his homosexuality that doesn't make sense that is unfair and allah is not unfair allah is not unfair as he said in the quran your lord does not oppress anyone it is not unfair to anyone so the person who is a homosexual is a person who chooses to be a homosexual that's the bottom line and that's why there can be a punishment because it is a choice so what was evil human society from the time of adam till our time till thousands of years in the future human beings will not change they are human beings technology will change but in terms of the basic makeup of the human being there is no change they will not change and that's why the laws governing human society and morality these laws which were being revealed by allah they don't need to change so unlike the uh churches in the west for example where now you have homosexual priests administering to homosexual congregations as well as heterosexual congregations that's considered a norm now only the catholic church remains you know opposing it it's just a matter of time before they will be overwhelmed and eventually have to accept it only in islam we don't accept it we didn't accept it and we'll never accept it of course it's not to say because somebody might say ah but in san francisco they have a homosexual master they have one in toronto also they have one in the uk yeah we do have muslims in jail who are doing this this is reality because countries allow that they're free to do it but islam does not recognize it it is still considered wrong it doesn't mean that if you're a homosexual you can't be a muslim no islam doesn't say that homosexuality is not that different in terms of the law and how the law deals with deviation from adultery punishment for adultery is death punishment for homosexuality is death if people are caught in the act so this is not the issue a person may commit a sin they were sahaba who were companions of the prophet muhammed who were executed for adultery did that make them non-muslims no they committed sin in fact they came to the prophet muhammed and asked the prophet muhammad to purify them by having the law applied to themselves so the point here is that the values the moral principles of islam are timeless allah has prescribed them based on human society and its need and they will not change and this is what we as muslims have to offer the world a moral compass which is not turning according to how people feel one which remains steady till the last day of this world now that's the theory in practice we have to say where are these moral principles in our pillars of islam see normally when we teach the pillars of islam we teach them to our children we learn them in terms of the technical issues that are concerned that are involved salah you have to have wudu you praise allah this way or that way what breaks we'll do what breaks allah we learn all these technicalities it's a requirement five times a day the timings everything but what are the moral principles behind salah most often this is not taught for those of you that have been to classes on thick of this basic clip salah zakah hatch i'm sure you'll agree with me that this area is not focused on maybe the teacher might mention a point or two but this is not the focus but if the prophet muhammad said that what he was sent with was morality then surely that must be the most important core principle this is the core value of islam so we need to rethink we need to re-analyze we need a new approach in our teaching of islam wherein we focus on these issues while teaching people the technicalities that we also teach them the goals what are the core principles behind the ritual the rights the customs and the traditions so this evening what i'm going to share with you briefly is for you to reflect on and to look deeper into some of the principles behind the moral principles behind the pillars of islam so if we start with the first pillar of islam which is the shahada time the declaration the two declarations of faith we all know this i bear witness there is no god worthy of worship of the law and i have a witness that muhammad is the messenger of allah we know that and we know we should say it with knowledge because if you're just saying it as words some people man wants to marry a muslim woman and the family says no muslim woman has to marry a muslim man so the man says no problem i'll become a muslim what do i need to do you need to say so he goes to the court he says but he told his wife already listen his wife to me i'm gonna do this thing because i want to marry you but don't expect me to be praying and fasting and all these other things that you guys do i'm just doing this so i can marry you you have to say what is the value of in the courts of course the courts have no choice if somebody comes and declares their faith you have to accept them on face value but in the sight of allah he has not become a muslim it's just words he said so the goal are not the words i mean of course we say the words and people will teach us how to say it if we're not arabic speaking etc we learn how to say it but technically speaking if you understood it and you even said it wrong it's still good enough as long as you've understood it that's that's the key that you didn't understand what you're saying and for it to be acceptable to allah of course you have to be sincere about it you should know what it means and have an idea that you plan to live in accordance with that principle but then nobody tells you how to live they just say say it so what we need to look at here because this topic of just the shahada time could be a lecture and then when i come back in another two months we can then go on to salah but i'm just gonna try to get through us this evening quickly uh the basic principles just for your own reflection one of the principles that govern the shahadatan is that we have to say it with witnesses other people have to witness us saying it it's not enough for you to decide personally in your home but i am now a muslim i want to be a muslim say to yourself and then you just carry on it's not enough if you were in a place where you had no other choice there were no muslims the only person who decided to become a muslim that's another situation you have nobody to say it to nobody to witness it does that mean you can't become a muslim no of course not of course you can become a monster so as long as there are people around who can witness then it is a requirement for you to say it with witnesses that's the point islam is practical it's flexible in the sense that if you are in a circumstance where you can't say your life is threatened thought about it and you're in a country where people are very very you know negative towards muslims so much so that your parents saw you with a few books on islam they say what was this so i'm just reading get rid of it if you become a muslim you're dead meat or you're a young person if you become a muslim you're kicked out of the house you're on your own you're only 14 years old 15 years old you don't have the means to look after yourself so okay those circumstances you make your declaration of faith to yourself parents don't know about it you're muslim but in circumstances the general circumstance the most common circumstances where people are available you can say it before other people you are required to declare it publicly you call that public declaration that doesn't mean getting up here and declaring it before everybody a whole group of people know but at least a couple of witnesses it is said now why does islam insist on that why is that a principle in the declaration of faith that you should say it to witnesses on one hand on an external level on one hand you become known as a muslim you become known as a muslim we know now that you are a muslim so if in your time of weakness shaytaan comes to you and suggests to you that you may console yourself you're depressed you're having some difficult times you console yourself as you did before islam by going to the bar taking a couple of shots of whiskey or whatever you know you feel better and the muslim sees you walking to the bar they say brother are you okay okay can i help you you're not gonna find help there it's gonna make things worse right i mean muslims will be looking out for you they will try to help you because they know you're a muslim well if they don't know you're muslim you've gone in by yourself nobody knew and of course that's the downward spiral so there is practical benefit in there to be known as a muslim also the community can benefit from you you may have some skill some ability which the community needs they can call on you as you can call on them they can call on you because islam is a brotherhood sisterhood a community brothers and sisters in faith but on another level if we look at the moral level we have to say that the moral principle which may be derived from the open declaration of faith anybody have an idea what this principle would be ah no nobody is not towards allah if not like you're gonna only worship allah is that a moral point as well morality towards allah yeah but right here now this open declaration what comes out of it is what we call transparency what you have inside you have brought out you're not the type of person who hides what you have people see you for who you are the prophet sallam had said the believer is not two-faced he or she has one face when they talk into one they have another face when they talk to somebody else they're smiling in your face and stabbing you in your back this is not the way of the believer the believer is open transparent so this characteristic of transparency this is part of honesty of being known for who you are you're not hiding things you're not planning plotting in secret as the allah said in the quran there is no good in most of their secret meetings islam doesn't like secret meetings because when people plot and plan in secret usually it is not for good it may be for their good they're good as the group that is plotting and planning but it's not good for the society so islam doesn't like this secret plot and secret societies in general most countries they're opposed to them we know that the mafia prosecutions masons these groups they're disliked by society in general but in islam we are supposed to be open and honest we advise people we accept advice furthermore because of the fact that we have accepted islam and we know that islam is the right way of life we also in our open declaration would share that with others if because it was good for us then surely it must be good for our parents our brothers and sisters our relatives so we are motivated to share that which we have inside with others so we have what you may call a missionary personality we are on a mission in this world we have been given this truth and as the prophet sallam had said convey whatever you have learned from me even if it is only a single verse from the quran share it salah its main moral message the core moral principle is what punctuality well punctuality is taught in salah because our salah is at fixed times equality yeah all of these are good principles inside of it but the core the the most important one allah told us in the quran he said establish the prayer in order to remember me the law consciousness of allah same thing consciousness of allah that is the principle to remember allah and this is important why because oftentimes non-muslims will say to us you know you listen you muslims you pray five times a day that's nice but it is mechanical as if you all are like robots programmed you know you get up in the morning midday afternoon sunset night day after day after day of today as for us we pray to god we worship god when our hearts feel that connection when our hearts are softened to god this is when we worship this is the real worship and we might bow our heads and say yeah it's true it sounds so much better than what we do no it isn't better it sounds theoretically better but in real life what happens is that that person doesn't have that feeling today so he doesn't worship a lot today he doesn't have the feeling this week so he doesn't worship a lot this week this month six months a year years go by and he never or she never gets that feeling so they never worship god when do they worship god when calamity strikes that's when everybody worships god calamity strikes tragedy in your life so yes oh god yes help me god you raise your hands everybody does so that's when they do it but what is the use of that really that kind of worship i call the atheists worship the atheists worship the atheist who denies there is no god he says there is no god this is all of fabrication of your minds we are descendants of monkeys and if you look around in the zoos of the world do you see anyone keep frame do you see monkeys making mosques and synagogues and churches no so it must have been made up by you all people made it up there's no god however that same atheist when he or she finds themselves in a circumstance where the end is before their eyes they're sitting in that boeing 727 and they look out the window and they see an engine fall off and the plane starts to turn to go into that dive the dive which you know there's no coming back it's all over that atheist doesn't sit there in his seat and say tough luck no he will throw his hands up or she will oh god oh god oh god screaming god even louder than the believers around them that's the atheist version so we said that is not the real worship of god the real worship of god is to be conscious of god thicker law to be conscious of god throughout our daily life 24 7 throughout our days in this world to be conscious of what is pleasing to god and what is not pleasing to god so that between those times of worship we are conscious of god it will affect our behavior so when somebody says to you non-muslim you know my your my boss is a muslim i see him going to the prayers midday prayers the goes for asthma he's really always there in the mosque but he cheats us he doesn't give us our pay on time when he hired us in our home country we signed a contract when he got here we checked they changed the contract on us so we're given the choice either you take the new contract or go back home on your own we didn't have any choice he lies to us all the time so what is the value of his worship and we have to say yeah what is the value of his worship because allah also described the impact that worship should have on the individual when he said inna tanha and in fact prevents evil speech and evil deeds our consciousness of allah should prevent us from these evils so if we don't have that consciousness of allah we're just going through the motions then we are praying while not praying we are going through the motions of what is called prayer but we are not praying the prayer which was prescribed for us this is the point so salah should develop that consciousness of allah which would make us better people in how we communicate with others around us and how we deal with them financially otherwise so we only speak what is good we don't engage in gossip this is one of the problems that we have society today isn't it when we sit down and talk with our workmates what do we talk about other people you know so and so they did this when they did that i don't like them because of this and that and what i'm just talking about other people much of the time spent women are known for this but it's not just women men too yeah although we usually appoint they figure out the women they're always gossiping but the men too different version right it's just a different version different way but this we spend most of our time our conversations in gossip slander talking about people backbiting talking about people behind their backs what they have which we feel they don't deserve we're the ones who should have it etc so the salah should prevent us from that kind of conversation useless detrimental to ourselves and to others zakah of course is obvious it teaches generosity generosity which all societies praise people recognize the good in it regardless of who bill gates is millions billions given away walid bin talal gave away others people respect that they say wonderful thing most people aren't able to do that they have wealth can't let it go even though they can't spend it even though they don't have the means to spend it because there is this nature that we have also of greed not wanting to let go the more we have the more we want so zakah is to tell is to tell us and to make us be generous to help those who are need in our societies and to also decrease our level of greed then the greed which is in our hearts to keep it down it is also to develop compassion for others to recognize the need that's why when you have to give zakah if in a society you're able to look for the people who are needy and give them yourself it's better yes we have societies that will do it for you just give them money they give you a slip and it says zakah has been done but the better way is to find those who are needy and help them it has more meaning has more of an impact when we see people in dire need so zakah is to develop generosity and compassion fasting ramadan fasting primarily ramadan is supposed to develop in us a sense of self-control a sense of self-control now what we are doing currently we call it fasting but in reality it's feasting we feast ramadan instead of fasting ramadan we're feasting ramallah that's why before every ramadan here doctors recommendations before we start ramadan please don't overeat biggest problem they have during ramadan is people coming in with ailments from overeating non-muslims are looking at us and say what how is that people are fasting 30 days and they're having ailments for overeating the answer that's kind of contradictory and we will proudly tell them we gain weight in ramadan fasting is easy we gain weight but is that the fast which was prescribed in islam one in which you will gain weight women spend the whole of ramadan just in the kitchen you have foods which are served in all the communities around the world i've been to you know so many different parts of the world and every community has special foods for ramadan it's only eaten in ramadan right special foods what's that saying what is that actually saying that our focus is on food it's not about fasting it's about the food so it's not surprising that the goals of fasting are lost what we start the fast and end the fast the same way we started it the fast is supposed to be improving us making us better year after year we're being you know developed it's a period of development but we don't develop this ramadan we will start just the way we started last ramadan same way sense place same space so ramadan has no impact on us self-control has no meaning oh yes we don't fast between the dawn and the sunset but before the dawn we have eaten three course meals you know our biryani and our you know chicken this and fish that and till we are completely full we can't eat anymore and then we go into the fast we spend the next how many hours just digesting the food our bodies are just slowly breaking it down and absorbing it till half an hour before sunset finally it's finished time to eat here comes iftar and what is iftar we have all these foods lined up again you know and when we when the adhan goes we just dive in there and we're eating till we can't eat anymore so what happened to control self-control is lost there's no self-control we've turned the night into the day the morning meal in english is called what breakfast breakfast is from break fast we were fasting during the night we're sleeping you can't eat and you break the fast in the morning it's called breakfast so what we did before ramadan at night we just put it in the day and we're doing breakfast at iftar right we didn't eat during that period but we ate so much before we ate so much after it has no impact on us we don't feel hungry but actually the fats are supposed to feel hungry we are supposed to feel hungry if we're not feeling hungry in the fast then we're not really fasting because if according to the sunnah prophet muhammed we all know he used to break fast with what three dates and water do you know he also started the fast with that too yes it was sunnah to begin with three dates on water also now you try a fast with three dates and water for for sure you're going to feel hungry in that day that day you will feel the pangs of hunger maybe for the first time in your life what's that feeling where did that come from maybe i better go see a doctor no no that is the hunger pain the pangs of hunger which a quarter of the world feels every day not because they chose to fast but because there's no food that is supposed to remind us of those people cause us to think about them and want to be sharing and generous they break this fast at the end of ramadan with feeding we have feed the needy that's what we are being driven to do to develop this sense of care concern compassion for others control for ourselves and hajj time is running out hajj is patience critical patience we are impatient by nature human beings are created impatient we have an impatient nature about us but patience is the real virtue that we need because patience is what stops us from doing what is displeasing to allah impatience haste the prophet said haste impatience is from satan satanic it's an evil to be avoided so patience is the most important principle in hajj because we are put into circumstances where it is easy for us to be impatient no matter what kind of head you do on the adjectives we have different levels right we have one star hedges we have no star hydras also and then we have five star hatches but even the five-star he must or she must enter into the crowds of towar you can't find a time when the place is empty so you're going to get into the crowd so somebody is going to elbow you they're going to step on your foot all kinds of things are going to happen to you in spite of what you've paid and now how do you respond if your response is they elbowed you so you tell them they step on your foot so you stop on their foot this is yours this is your attitude you have no hatch you've destroyed your hatch because hajj is really about patience that we suffer and are purified knowing as the prophet said the believer whenever he or she suffers any harm even a thorn sticking in the foot it purifies them of sin it becomes purification so whatever happens even if the person did what they did deliberately doesn't matter you're patient with it your sins are purified you're purifying yourself of sin and it's towards that that you can end up returning home if your hajj is accepted pure from sin as the prophet said like a newborn that's not going to happen if you are reacting where they're throwing the stone somebody throws it hits you in the head with a stone so you're picking up when you try to throw back at them you know you have to believe it wasn't deliberate you have to control yourself in those all those circumstances so patience as the prophet saw said the true believer his and her fear is amazing and it's only in the case of the true believers when difficult times come to them they are patient and allah rewards them for it when good times come they're thankful and allah rewards them for it that patience is the challenge and that is hajj as well as also the moral the universal moral that we have an attitude towards human beings all human beings as being our brothers and sisters this is inhumanity there are no races people talk about races there are no races we're just human beings there's just one race the race of human beings we're all children of adam the hajj reminds us of that because we come from countries where maybe we've never seen people looking like the people that we're seeing there hajj brings us together for us to experience that to know all human beings are one islam is one allah is one so those are just an introduction to the moral principles the core values of islam and we need to rethink the pillars of iman in the similar light and in fact all of the various other requirements that are put on us whether it's hijab for women what are the moral principles behind it it's not just because islam says you must cover you must cover there are reasons and there is it's not just for the others it's for ourselves what are the moral principles behind it and seek those principles so insha allah i hope that this brief introduction to the core values of islam has fallen on open ears everybody's eyes seem to be open i hope your ears were also open and inshaallah that you would implement this in your lives in passing on islam to your children that you help them to understand these principles let them know islam from the moral principles to the degree that we can of course you're dealing with a three-year-old child no point talking about moral principles here you can't understand it at that stage but you know again once they reach the age teach your children salah by the time they're seven teaching them salah means teaching them salah with the moral principles not just that they go through the movements but that they live those moral principles but they say and what they do words of remembrance being conscious of allah we try to give them that by the time they're seven that's what the prophet saw was speaking about barack i will stop here inshallah our normal practice is to do

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Keywords: The Core Values of Islam, islamic lecture bilal philips, Khutbah, Aspire Mosque, english sermon, digital minbar, bilal philips, islamic online university, iou, islam way of life, Masjid Aspire, islam online, Dr. Abu Ameena Bilal Philips

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Length: 60min 25sec (3625 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 12 2016